A significant technology has developed relating to the use of small abrasive particles propelled by a compressed gas and directed against a surface to clean or abrade the surface. This gas/abrasion technique has developed to a significant degree for dental uses for doing pit and fissure work as well as for cutting enamel and dentin of teeth to repair cavities. In the dental field, the gas/abrasion technique has certain advantages over drilling with a high speed drill, e.g., less heat and pressure are generated. The early gas abrasive devices were cumbersome in that they required an abrasive particle container that was maintained separately from the nozzle means used to direct the stream of gas/abrasive particles against the surface of a tooth. See e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 2,696,049. Over the years devices were developed wherein the abrasive particles were contained in a holder that was associated with a nozzle as a hand-held unit. See for example U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,840. One of the problems with previous devices is that the control of the flow was done using a foot peddle, which did not give the user detailed control of the flow of the gas abrasive stream and often resulted in long bleed down times. We have now invented a hand holdable device having a flexible design allowing the user to regulate flow using a finger control and to minimize the bleed-down time when shutting off the gas/abrasive stream. The design also provides for the use of a pinch valve mechanism on a flexible line to regulate the flow of material. Preferably the flexible line is removable and thus making the hand holdable device autoclavable.